Ansel Elgort is Baby Driver, but He Can Drive Like a Man

Vin Diesel has nothing on the star of the summer's coolest, craziest, weirdest action flick.

If you ever see Ansel Elgort driving around, flag him down. He’ll probably be eager to teach you how to do a burnout. He’s gotten really good at it.

His new movie, Baby Driver, opened Wednesday, and it stars Elgort in the role of Baby, a heart-of-gold kid with a tragic past who helps a team of thieves—Jamie Foxx, John Hamm, Kevin Spacey—pull off heists by being their getaway driver. You get it.

Baby drives very fast and very sideways in cars like a 707-horsepower Dodge Challenger Hellcat, all while listening to music on his headphones—which violates a law in 15 states—to drown out a crippling bout of tinnitus caused by a childhood accident. His jams double as both the movie’s soundtrack and its door-slamming, chase-choreographing, explosion-exploding syncopation (a product of director Edgar Wright’s obsessive genius). It’s why GQ 's own Tom Philip calls Baby Driver“the best, most original action movie of the summer." Being British, Tom is not given to unearned enthusiasm.

Ansel, however, very much is into enthusiasm. Which is why he happily explained the secret to drifting around a pair of oddball twins from Atlanta, what it’s like to obtain Flea’s musical approbation, and—most importantly—what tunes I should be playing for my 4-year-old daughter.

GQ: You grew up in New York City. Can you actually, legally drive?Elgort: Yes, I can! I got my permit at 16 and then I got my license at 19 right before I went to Pittsburgh for Fault in Our Stars, because I had done another movie and I was annoyed, being in a random city not being able to drive around. This was before Uber had popped off. And during The Fault in Our Stars I was definitely the designated driver, ‘cause when I’m doing a movie or a project, I don’t drink at all. We’d go to dinner and I would drive everyone around.

You don’t drink at all while you’re filming a movie?
No. Well, especially when I was 19 and I wasn’t drinking at all. [laughs] But even now I don’t really drink when I’m filming, because the days are so long and you gotta feel as healthy as possible.

Did you get to do any of the stunts yourself?
Yeah, a few. I did a lot of training. I remember my first day doing driving on set, saying, ‘Okay, what stunts am I doing today?’ And they say, ‘Uh, you’re not gonna be doing anything today, Ansel. You’re in a car with Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm, and you’re not gonna kill these guys.’ Unfortunately they only let me do four or five stunts throughout the film—ones where people weren’t in the car. I did a brake stand in the purple car, where I give a purse back to a woman. I did a drift around the ATL Twins after I steal the red car, where I light up the tires and make red smoke go everywhere. And another one with the Hellcat, as well.

"I was allowed to do it around two human beings. I guess they were worried about Jamie Foxx, but not the ATL Twins."

What was the hardest stunt to master?
The brake stand around the ATL Twins was difficult because the Hellcat has so much horsepower. The trick with that stunt is you keep your foot on the brake, and then you light up the tires. And it’s about the modulation between your brake and your gas so that the tires spin but the car doesn’t start moving yet. Then you slowly release the brake and the car will spin, but you’re controlling the spin. Then right as your car’s about to fishtail out of control, you bring the wheel back, a lot of counter-steer, and that’s when you get that drift thing where the back is really moving back and forth. I practiced that a lot with the stunt team, so when I finally got to do it, I was allowed to do it around two human beings. I guess they were worried about Jamie Foxx, but not the ATL Twins.

Were the ATL Twins saying, “Wait, Ansel’s doing this?”[laughs] They loved it, man. Those guys are crazy. They’re very serious, but they’re very funny. I remember I asked them, “Do you guys want some water?” And they’re like, “We don’t drink water.” And I was like, “What?” And they were like, “Yeah, we hate water. We drink Sprite.” They’re dead serious, dude! I got to work with a lot of amazing characters in this film. I got so many days with Flea, and Flea and I text all the time. I talk to Jamie at least once a week. I talk to Kevin at least once a week. I made really good friends on this film.

I know you’re also a DJ. Music factors heavily into Baby Driver. I’m gonna ask you for song requests for various types of drives. First one: Best song for a long road trip with your buddy?
A bunch of my friends like the new wave kind of trap music. And I did like a bunch of stuff off the Drake album. I could run that. That does sound a little weird, listening to Drake with your homies, but it’s not. I promise.

Best song for a solo road trip across the country because you’re moving from New York to L.A.?
Biggie. [sings] Going back to Cali [scats melody]. It would be that one, over and fucking over. Because you’re still East Coast, cause you listen to Biggie, but it’s the Cali song.

Last request—toughest one, I suspect, for you. Best song for a trip with your four year-old-daughter who really only likes the soundtracks to Moana and Frozen?
I’d say, “Alright, listen. It’s time to get off this Moana and Frozen stuff. We gotta, we gotta start your music education now.” Since we can’t get inappropriate, I would start the education with some George Gershwin, some Leonard Bernstein. Stuff that’s gonna feed her brain and get the melodies right in her mind. One of the greatest compliments I received on Baby Driver set came when I was playing Flea a new song. I said, “I wrote this last night.” And he looks at me, he says, “Hey, man—you have a real gift with melodies.” And I was like, holy shit. I think the reason I’m good with melodies is because growing up, my father played me so much great music—whether it be George Gershwin or Leonard Bernstein or classical—where the melodies are complex. If you get that in your mind early, I think anyone can be a musician.

Great. So my daughter will be able to support me when she becomes a famous, wealthy recording artist.
Yeah, you gotta give her some music education. You gotta put those earworms in there early.

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